OPTIMIZING SPEECH RECOGNITION FOR CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS

描述（由申请人提供）：目前量化儿童可听度和预测语音识别的方法是基于成人数据，因此，高估了儿童的表现，低估了实现高水平理解所需的可听度。虽然成人和儿童之间的语音识别差异已被广泛研究，但缺乏研究这些差异如何影响基于听觉的语音识别预测限制了这些发现的临床应用。此外，目前对儿童的这种预测的准确性是不够的。本研究的长期目标是通过改善语言可懂度指数（SII）对语言识别的预测来增强HL儿童的语言和语言结果。更准确的语音识别估计将促进儿童放大的优化。一个中间目标是量化语言和即时记忆对SII语音识别预测的影响。为了实现这一目标，将在儿童中测量语音识别、接受性语言和即时记忆技能，并用于生成转移函数。这项建议的核心假设是，成人与儿童之间的差异和变化，可以更准确地预测通过修改SII占儿童的语言能力和即时记忆，一个假设是由初步数据支持。这一理论将通过追求三个具体目标来检验：1）确定语言能力对听力正常（NH）儿童基于听觉的语音识别预测的影响，2）确定NH儿童即时记忆过程对基于听觉的语音识别预测的影响，3）通过结合语言知识和即时记忆技能，使SII更准确地预测HL儿童的言语识别。在目标1中，将测量一大群听力正常的儿童的语音识别和语言能力，以确定是否考虑听众的语言知识可以提高语音识别的SII预测。在目标2中，将测量一大群听力正常的儿童的语音识别和即时记忆技能，包括言语和视觉空间的存储和存储与处理措施，以确定这些过程如何支持语音识别。在目标3中，语言和即时记忆的测量将被纳入一组听力损失儿童的SII传递函数，以模拟这些因素如何影响独立和辅助语音理解。这项拟议的研究有望优化听力损失儿童的放大效果，并更好地了解语言和即时记忆如何影响发育过程中的语音识别。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Current approaches to quantifying audibility and predicting speech recognition for children are based on adult data, and consequently, overestimate performance for children and underestimate the amount of audibility that is necessary to achieve high levels of understanding. Although differences in speech recognition between adults and children have been widely studied, lack of research examining how such differences impact audibility-based predictions of speech recognition limits the clinical application of these findings. Furthermore, the accuracy of such predictions with children is presently inadequate. The long-term goal of this research is to enhance speech and language outcomes in children with HL by improving Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) predictions of speech recognition. More accurate estimates of speech recognition would promote optimization of amplification for children. An intermediate objective is to quantify the influence of language and immediate memory on predictions of speech recognition from the SII. To achieve this objective, speech recognition, receptive language, and immediate memory skills will be measured in children and used to generate transfer functions. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that adult-child differences and variability among children can be more accurately predicted by modifying the SII to account for children's linguistic ability and immediate memory, a hypothesis that is supported by preliminary data. This theory will be tested by pursuing three specific aims: 1) Determine the influence of linguistic abilities on audibility-based predictions of speech recognition in children with normal hearing (NH), 2) Determine the influence of immediate memory processes on audibility-based predictions of speech recognition in children with NH, and 3) Adapt the SII to more accurately predict speech recognition in children with HL by incorporating linguistic knowledge and immediate memory skills. In Aim 1, speech recognition and language abilities will be measured for a large group of children with normal hearing in order to determine if consideration of the listener's language knowledge can improve SII predictions of speech recognition. In Aim 2, speech recognition and immediate memory skills, including verbal and visuo-spatial measures of storage and storage with processing, will be measured for a large group of children with normal hearing to determine how these processes support speech recognition. In Aim 3, measures of language and immediate memory will be incorporated into SII transfer functions for a group of children with hearing loss to model how these factors affect unaided and aided speech understanding. The proposed research is expected to lead to optimization of amplification in children with hearing loss and a better understanding of how language and immediate memory influence speech recognition during development.